What would you like to see in a paintball field?

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

An associate of mine is thiking of opening a field and was curious to what you would look for in a field. The field would cater to the arena type paintball crowd. Looking at 4 fields total (2 NPPL 7 man fields, 1 X-Ball field, 1 PSP 10 man). Cost would be in the 15 area with $10 all day air.
What kind of playing surface?
What kind of fields?
Prices?
Hours of operation?
any thing you would like to add to it.

Thanks
~Flyboy

[yeahthatsme]

indoor or outdoor?
what kinds of paint are you going to offer?


hours: something like 12-5

[trevorjk]

indoor or out door? either way friday nights would be sweet for opperation either inside or outside under the lights cool either way


i just like playing the dorito so thats all i would need

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

something that other fields don't have...

on site restaurant
a place for parents to be when their kids are out playing (my parents sit in the car all day long and it would be nice if they could do something while i'm paintballing for 8 hours)
vending machines
actual toilets (not portable jon jons, an actual building with a toilet)

Fridays - 5pm to 12am would be nice
sat + sun - like 10am and close when everyone leaves

Playing surface - i don't see whats wrong with grass.

Prices - $10 all day air sounds fair and $15 for admission is pretty cheap

Fields - you guys got a tourny player's dream field but what about the rec player?

[Mag Master 04]

A BIG, HUGE, PINK FRIGGIN BUNNY RABBIT!!!

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Originally posted by yeahthatsme
indoor or outdoor?
what kinds of paint are you going to offer?


hours: something like 12-5

Outdoor
you tell me..that is what this thread is for...what kind of paint would you like to see? You would have the option of bringing your own paint as well.

What about night games? what days of the week would you like to see that offered? Hrs?

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

Originally posted by SuiciDal Sn Y p ER

Fields - you guys got a tourny player's dream field but what about the rec player?

The owner wants to cater more towards the tourny side of the game. Their reasoning being that those are going to be the customers playing more on a regular basis.

[edweird]

I agree if I owned and operated a feild I would mostlikley go very close to the same route.

4 feilds all indoor

Xball
variable Sup air
2 rec ball feilds one of which 3rd world multi building mil-sim and other trench/tower battlefeild with cool gun emplacments in the towers (warpfeed nasty typoons or cocker quad-50's that shut down when switch is flipped at base)

Id try to keep it clean all the time by having it built to be all pressure washed at ease. Also when them dastardly airsofters wanna play they can rent out a clean feild and have at it. Flooring would mostlikley be that astroturf stuff with a full floor drain to reuse the wash water for eco hippy reasons.

So yeah someone gimme a couple million and Ill put these up in a couple citys.

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

decent paint at a low price, $40 to $60 is good for a case.

Night games - you better have a lot of lightning cause even with night vision i ran into a few trees

BYOP would be great but you can make it so people WANT to buy paint at the field (like have lower prices than local stores)

[trevorjk]

night games are awesome especially outdoors... but you need good lighting for that. as for indoors its easy for night games but its not the same how ever if the feild is indoor the surface better have good traction and restrooms and what not better not be tile as that gets very slippery very fast... and your feild will get messy really fast unless you decide to clean it after every use wich will get very cumbersome but thats just my 2 cents for now

[FreakBaller12]

have night play wednesday fridays. Then have a time where you switch over to nite play on saturdays. Have a readmission for people playing(note: they can buy an all day pass too for like 20)
Have one or 2 fields lit up. Preferably like the xball and psp10 man. As lightign all of them, they probably wouldn't all be used and it would save money.

Yes have something for the parents to do. GREAT IDEA! I would offer blaze for 55. Then some white box(competitive edge is good stuff;) ) for like 38. Then 1 or 2 higher grade RPS.

Nitro fills to 4500 are a must.

[sneakyhacker420]

get a compressor and do $5 all-day-air


and knowin how my fields bunkers NEVER get cleaned off... invest in a steam washer/pressure washer and clean the bunkers off after every day of play

11 AM to 5 or 6 PM would be a cool time to be open



all i know is that when this is done... i'd LOVE to come and play there


may i also suggest that you replace one of the 7-man sup air fields with a hyperball field?

that makes everyone happy... and most rec ballers like to play on them, as well as thourney ones :)

[Mindflux]

Hot chicks.

[Fred]

Originally posted by Mindflux
Hot chicks.

My first thought!

Fields need more girls. Lots of them. of the single and attractive variety... and hopefully they have game too... :D

A secure staging area would be cool too, like lockable lockers and such...


---Fred

[Dryden]

Originally posted by SuiciDal Sn Y p ER
actual toilets (not portable jon jons, an actual building with a toilet)I've thought of this too, though the problem is that an indoor restroom facility would be difficult to manage as far as safety is concerned.

Tile floors, broken paint shells and fill, and cleats are a recipe for disaster. It'd have to be more of a glorified outhouse with flush toilets and a gravel floor. But yes, I 100% agree with you. I'd pay an extra $10 per day for a flush toilet and a sink with soap and hot water.

Anyhow, here's my wish list ...

What I'm looking for in a field (today):

A ref crew that speeds things along to maximize play time, a shelter house to store gear under during bad weather, and a food stand that offers something resembling an actual meal.

What I want to see fields do (tomorrow):

Equipment lockers. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, rubber wrapped keys on lanyards that players keep for the day, similar to the storage lockers at amusement parks and bowling alleys - insert 50 cents and you can remove the key. Pay per use lockers will pay for themselves, though for the typical pb'er we're talking about pretty large locker storage space.

Indoor rec facility & waiting room. As mentioned, a place where family and friends can do something for amusement for 8 hours besides reading a book or watching a DVD in the car. A basic arcade, seating area with televisions, and vending machines.

Paint selection. Personally, I'm taking RPS Marbalizer every single time if it's offered - it's been my preferred brand of paint for 10 years. If a field owner isn't able to carry AT LEAST 5 or 6 choices in paint, I better be allowed BYO. Otherwise, I will not return to a field that gives me two choices (bad and worse). I understand that paint sales is where a lot of profit is, but honestly, can anyone name any other sport where you're told you CANNOT use your own equipment when you arrive?

I mentioned in another thread that I'm more than willing to pay $25 or more in admission, provided the facilities are thoughtfully laid out and I can play the game the way I want to play, and use all my own gear doing it. The game is about the players, not the field owners.

Tech staff and an airsmith that understands the majority of markers that players will bring would also be a plus. If it were necessary, I'd like to have a nice, well lit table to tear my marker apart and rebuild, rather than laying out a white towel in the middle of nowhere and praying I don't drop a screw in tall weeds. Rebuilding or repairing a marker between a game at a tournament pace is difficult enough as it is, the least a field owner could do is provide a good workbench service area for players to use - it'd save me 5 minutes alone in not having to dig out my assortment of tools, parts kits, and o-rings.

As for the fields themselves, I haven't seen anything better than SplatterPark (http://www.splatterpark.com/) right here in Ohio. I can't think of a better field to emulate - the 10-man pyperball course is a riot. My only complaint is more benchseating and a higher elevation for spectators to view the field.

Here's my thought ... if I were building a field for me, I'd have a large building similar to what you might find at a municipal, public swimming pool - flush toilets, sinks, showers, lockers, all under one roof.

If I could shower after a day of play - BEFORE getting in the car for the drive home - I wouldn't go to any other field again.

[TeamNausea]

I think he just said it all....:D

[Mag Master 04]

Dryden: now that i have read your version of the bible i dont think i will ever wonder what could happen on a paintball field again...

[Dryden]

Yes, but I didn't mention anything about how (or how much) someone would actually pay to build such a thing!!! :p Although, it's not exactly rocket science to build a large box or pool barn.

Here's a question for tourny level pb'ers. If such a field were built, would you pay an annual fee? Say, for example, it were $25/day admission fee to play - possibly all day air - FPO with a good number of choices. If you went to the field twice a month, you'll end up spending $600 in admission fees over the course of the year. Would you pay something like $499 for unlimited annual attendance (kinda like a paintball country club)? If so, a commitment from 10 10-man teams nets the field owner $50,000, and ties up the top teams in the area to go to the owners' field - why go anywhere else, you already paid in January to play at field X?

After that up front take, there's still paint sales, pro shop receipts, rec baller admission fees, rentals, etc.

What would you pay for unlimited annual attendance at paintball shangri-la? Would you volunteer to ref 12 dates a year (once a month) for a $100 discount on dues?

I think such a site would also have a huge draw in a well populated metro area, because the facilities would attract businesses who are looking for activities for company outings/team building exercises. If Bank One were planning an employee day, where do you think they would go? A real paintball park or Joe Schmoe's airball field he built in his backyard?

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by Dryden
If you went to the field twice a month, you'll end up spending $600 in admission fees over the course of the year. Would you pay something like $499 for unlimited annual attendance (kinda like a paintball country club)? If so, a commitment from 10 10-man teams nets the field owner $50,000, and ties up the top teams in the area to go to the owners' field -

What would you pay for unlimited annual attendance at paintball shangri-la? Would you volunteer to ref 12 dates a year (once a month) for a $100 discount on dues?


Yeah I'd be up for an annual fee. $500 would be around my max up front. Now, at this price and FPO I don't expect to pay $75 for a case of blaze though.

[yaddatrance]

I would like one which open during the week after
work hours and stays open late and serves coffee :)
I'm never really "in the mood" to go paintballing
during the weekend, but I'm always aching to go during
the week.

I'd like a small pro shop onsite which carries the
little things like elbows, o-rings, etc...

I want 4500 fills, but with all day air this is less
of an issue. It's just a nice feeling going home at
the end of the day with a full tank to tune and tinker
with your gun :)

I want a membership card which does *not* cost me $500!
Maybe a $YY card which confers a XX% discount on field
prices?

I'd want it conveniently close to me ;)

[steveo356]

Well ya ask me id say :

playing surface;indoors sumthing soft i lik ethem rubber thigns but they can get slippery from paintball oil jus nething but sand and suth that can mess up the internals of sum ones guns

paints; a good array from the rec ballers who buy the cheap n dun no wut the dif between good n bad paint are so theyt get the cheap 1 to a few of the high lvl rps that we all know n love

retals; more then 1 choice like tip 98s and efishes jus so theres a choice

bunkers; supair ball change it aorund every month or so i like exploiting new field setups now n then

staging area: all day air at a fair price secure lockers like sum 1 said above good techys knwoing most guns from pro to the newbs jus so no 1 need to be poopin off the back of there beloved makes n boom there goes springs n carriers all over the floor.

facilitys should be sum what clean ya n leave sumthin for the old farts to do maybe sum vending machines in the back nothings worse then playin wen ur dehydrated

and my fave part is hanging around in proshops (n watchin what the newer people are buying gives me an idea of the market trend not that i need to know at 16 but tehy dont sell my beloved agd guns so i spend have my time soliciting them to the owner on why he should carry them)

ya n leave a place to watch games sumtimes thats as much fun as playin on tourny nights when people do the superman dives int them bunks

[acropilot19]

Hey Flyboy
Wheres he thinkin of opening it at?
I'd be interested in gettin involved with it cause I've been thinkin of doin same.
:)

[tribalman]

first, i'd say open it in the chicago area. then, if the field is indoor i'd stay 4pm open till midnight every day ur open. also, if ur in the chicago area. please be open almost every day. i say this cause after work sometimes i wanna paintball but nowhere is open. and other times i just get the urge to not sleep and play paintball

[rkjunior303]

What about, if BYOP is an issue, having a special entrance fee for 'ballers with their own paint. Sure $15 w/ rental buy your paint etc. But why not say $25 for BYOP. SOmething like that. Allows the field to make up the paintloss but still affordable than $85-100 cases to your players bringing their own eqp/paint.

[Bulldog]

Some definate good ideas here, I'd want toplay at a place like that. The problem with that $500 membership fee is if the field goes out of business, I'd either want my money back, or my years worth of play.